Method and apparatus for applying bag closures



J. F. IRWIN 3,061,983

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING BAG CLOSURES Nov. 6, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet v1 M595 i Iew/A/ INVENTOR.

flrroelvsy.

Filed Dec 1A. 1960 J. F. IRWIN Nov. 6, 1962 METHOD. AND APPARATUS 012 APPLYING BAG ICLOSURES Filed Dec. 1, I960 m m e M .m m m a 4 E VJ. m 1 W Nov. 5 1962 METHODAND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING BAG CLOSURES Filed Dec. 1, 1960 4 Sheet t 3 w x mw wk. 10 m v F A Q AEhWk My s rznv V w N 1952 J. F IRWIN 3,061,983

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING BAG CLOSURES Filed Dec. 1, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 E i ,w

(7525 E Jew/1v INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 6, 1962 3,061,983 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYHIG BAG CLOSURES Jere F. Irwin, Yakima, Wash, assignor to Kwik Lok Corporation, Yakima, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Dec. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 73,115 18 Claims. (CI. 5314) This invention relates to the dispensing of a bag closure and applying the same to a bag and it relates particularly to the dispensing and application of a bag closure of the type shown in US. Letters Patent No. 2,705,100, issued to Floyd G. Paxton et al. on March 29, 1955 on Bag Closing Method and Closure Dispensing Mechanism.

The closure referred to comprises a small tag made of flexible sheet plastic material having punched from one end thereof a bag-neck-confining mouth formed by a pair of opposed closely spaced jaws. The bags which these closures are employed for closing are generally made of soft, pliable plastic material which is very thin and the closure is effected by bunching together or twisting the neck of the bag into a small compact column and then working this between the jaws of the closure and into the mouth thereof so that the neck of the bag is confined in the mouth against accidental removal therefrom by the relatively stiff (although resilient) character of the material of the closure. The closure may be applied manually to a bag neck by holding the latter con1- pacted together in one hand while pressing the jaws of the closure against the bag neck with the other hand and then moving the closure in a direction normal to the plane of the closure but parallel with the bag neck thereby deflecting the material of the jaws so as to swing these jaws out of the plane of the closure thereby separating the tips of the jaws and admitting the bag neck into the mouth of the closure.

The patented closure dispensing mechanism above noted contained a means for feeding these bag closures one at a time from the lower end of a magazine containing a supply of the same and presenting each closure thus fed with the mouth end of the closure disposed forwardly and with the closure gripped by the mechanism so that all the operator had to do was to compact the bag neck in his hand and then manipulate it relative to the closure so as to apply the closure thereto by the method above described. One of the dilficulties experienced in operators using this mechanism is their failure to understand that relative axial movement of the compacted bag neck relative to the closure is essential in applying the closure to the bag neck as dependence was placed on this for deflecting the jaws of the closure and thus forming an opening between the jaws large enough to admit the bag neck into the mouth. Without careful training of the operator, it was discovered that the latter often tried to force the bag neck into the mouth of the closure held by the mechanism by holding the bag neck vertically and moving it in a straight horizontal direction towards the closure which was gripped in a horizontal plane by the mechanism. The tendency of improperly trained operators to try to use the mechanism in this manner resulted in the jaws of many of the closures being broken in the application of the closure to the bag so that the closure indifferently performed its function of closing the bag.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and apparatus for applying a bag closure of the type above described which will eliminate the difficulty above pointed out in the operation of the patented closure dispensing mechanism.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of and apparatus for applying a bag closure of the type above described in which the operator will not be required to move the bag neck in two directions in applying this to the closure but may perform the latter function properly merely by holding the compacted bag neck vertically and moving it in a horizontal direction against the closure to effect the proper application of the closure to the bag neck without any danger of damage being done to the closure.

After the patented closure dispensing mechanism had been used to apply a closure to the neck of a bag, this closure could be withdrawn from the mechanism by pulling the bag away from the latter. A separate manipulation of the mechanism was then required to be performed either manually'or by power to cause the mechanism to present another closure in readiness for application to a bag.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a closure dispensing apparatus which will not require an independent actuation of this, following the application of a closure presented by the apparatus to a bag, to effect delivery by this apparatus of another closure for application to another bag.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a closure dispensing apparatus in which the withdrawal of a closure from the{ apparatus after it has been applied to a bag will of itself actuate the apparatus to cause this to present another closure in readiness for application to another bag.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as other objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of FIG. '1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bag showing this with the neck of the bag properly closed by the application thereto of a closure of the type to which the present invention relates.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1 and illustrates said apparatus in a position of rest with the slide mechanism thereof in retracted position and with the apparatus presenting a bag closure properly positioned for application to the neck of a bag by manually completing the steps (initiated by the apparatus) of the method of the present invention. This view indicates diagrammatically the manual completion of the method by the horizontal shifting of the bag neck, compacted and held vertically, into contact with the jaws of the closure presented by the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5 and showing the manner in which the closure check of the invention retains each closure fed forwardly from the magazine of the apparatus in an advanced position in the closure feeding slide thereof.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 4 in which the closure feeding slide is shown pulled forwardly to its extended position by pulling forward on the neck of a bag after this has been applied to the closure presented by the apparatus in withdrawing the closure thus applied from said slide.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 83 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the bottom plate of the closure feeding slide of the apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a front end view of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of one of the two intermediate plates of said slide.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of one of the two upper plates of said slide.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged plan view of one of the closures which the apparatus of the invention is provided for dispensing.

FIG. 15 is a front end view of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged side elevational view of the closure shown in FIG. 14 when this is delivered by the apparatus of the invention for application to the neck of a bag and shows the jaws of the closure deflected downwardly by the horizontal movement of the bag neck, compacted and held vertically, so as to increase the opening between the jaws and admit the bag neck into the mouth of the closure.

FIG. 17 is a front elevational view of FIG. 16 and illustrates how downward deflection of the jaws of the closure widens the opening between the jaws so as to admit the bag neck by which this deflection of the jaws is accomplished, into the mouth of the closure.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the apparatus of the invention is there shown as preferably embodied in a closure dispenser 20. This dispenser is provided for the dispensing of bag closures 21 such as illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15. These closures are punched out of sheet plastic material which, while resilient, is quite resistant to flexing and returns with considerable force to its original form when released. Each of the closures 21 has punched therefrom at one end thereof a bag-neck-confining mouth 22, this mouth being formed by a pair of closely spaced opposed jaws 23 which are separated by a narrow space 24, the edegs of which jaws flare outwardly at a substantial angle to form a wide-angled entrance 25 to said mouth. The closure 21 is adapted to be subjected to flexing as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 to substantially widen the space 24 between the jaws 23 to permit the entrance of a bag neck into the mouth 22, and after the pressure causing this distortion is relaxed the jaws 23 return immediately to their normal relation shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 in which they are in closely spaced relation and thus retain within mouth 22 a bag neck inserted therein.

The construction of closure dispenser 20 and the manner in which it facilitates this operation will now be described.

The closure dispenser 20 has a pair of vertical side walls 28 and 29 which unite with front and rear channel members 30 and to form a closure hopper 36. The vertical side walls 28 and 29 are reverse duplicates of each other (except as hereinafter pointed out) and both have outwardly flaring upper flanges 37, this flange of wall 29 being divided by a vertical slot 38 which extends downwardly almost the full length of said wall. The front and rear channel members 30 and 35 are secured to the side walls 28 and 29 by bolts 39 which extend through vertical slots provided in the channel members 30 and 35 so that the latter are vertically adjustable relative to the side walls 28 and 29 for a purpose to be made clear hereinafter. The hopper 36 is dimensioned so that the vertical hopper chamber confined between the side walls 28 and 29 and the channel members 30 and 35 slidably retain therein a stack 40 of closures 21.

Each of the vertical side Walls 28 and 29 have rearward extensions 42 at their lower ends which are provided with out-turned flanges 43 which are secured to a back mounting plate 44 and to a wall 45 by bolts 46. Coextensive in length vertically with flanges 43 and formed inwardly from front edges of walls 28 and 29 are check guide flanges 50. Bent outwardly from lower edges of side walls 28 and 29 are slide suspension flanges 51 (FIGS. 4, 6, 7 and 9).

Walls 28 and 29 are also held together by bolts 52 and 53, the latter pasing through vertical slots 54 in the rear channel member 35 (FIG. 5) thereby not interfering with the vertical adjustability of the latter. Bent laterally and forwardly from the lower corners of the back mounting plate 44 are spring mounting arms 55 the purpose of which will be made clear hereinafter.

Slidably suspended on the flanges 51 for horizontal sliding movement between a retracted position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and an extended position as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is a closure feed slide 60. This slide includes a bottom plate 65 (FIGS. 10 and 11) and a pair of intermediate plates 66 (FIG. 12) which overlie lateral marginal areas of plate 65 so as to be flush with the side edges thereof. Slide 60 also includes a pair of upper plates 67 (FIG. 13) which are coextensive with and overlie plates 66 so as to be flush with the outer edges thereof. Slide 60 also includes retainer plates 68 (FIGS. 4, 6, 7 and 9) which overlie rear portions of upper plates 67 so as to be flush with the outer edges of the latter. The bottom plate 65, the intermediate plates 66, the upper plates 67 and retainer plates 68 are all secured together by six bolts 69 which extend through holes 70 provided in matching relation in said plates.

Plates 65, 66 and 67 are also provided with matching pairs of holes 71 and 72 through which pairs of bolts 73 and 74 extend to rigidly secure together front portions of these plates.

Bottom plate 65 has a stud 75 bent upwardly from the rear end of the plate and reinforced by a central bulge die-formed where the stud 75 joins plate 65. A keyholeshaped opening '81 is provided in stud 75 for retaining a spool-shaped resilient bumper 82 when this is pressed downwardly on the stud 75. The bumper 82 cushions the stopping of the slide 60 when the latter reaches its retracted position by engaging the back mounting plate 44 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This bumper also cushions the arrival of the slide 60 at its extended position as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 by engaging the rear channel member 35 of the hopper 36.

Spaced forwardly from the stud 75 on the plate 65 is a transverse hole 83 and a longitudinal hole 84 the purpose of which will be made clear hereinafter. A closure pick 85 is formed by die-forming the material of the plate 65 upwardly between the bulge 80 and the hole 83 the latter forming a sharp edge on the front end of this pick. Just forward of its holes 71, the plate 65 has a downwardly bent section 86 (FIGS. 5, 10 and 11) which is angled at approximately 135 relative to the balance of the plate 65 both rearwardly and forwardly therefrom. Formed in the front end of the plate 65 is a bag neck bunching recess 87 this recess having a narrow neck 88 and widely diverging outer edges 89 for guiding a bag neck into the recess '87, the latter extending, as shown in FIG. 10, about half-way into the angled section 86 of said plate. Die-formed downwardly in the area of the plate 65 bordering the recess neck 88 is a dish-shaped depression 9% the purpose of which will be made clear hereinafter.

In the closure feed slide 60 the bottom plate 65 is disposed horizontally from the rear end thereof to the upper edge of sloping section 86 and is also disposed horizontally from the lower edge of sloping section 86 to the front end of the slide 60, with the exception of the depression 90 formed in the latter.

The pair of intermediate plates 66 are right and left reverse duplicates of each other, the right plate of this pair alone being illustrated in FIG. 12. Each of these plates has a laterally extending spring connecting ear formed thereon and the inner edges 96 of this pair of plates form the side walls of a closure feed channel 97 provided by slide 60. Rear portions 98 of edges 96 of plate 66 are slightly wider apart than the balance of edges 96 so as to make the portion of channel 97 opposite the closure feed pick 85 slightly wider than the balance of said channel which is otherwise uniformly wide throughout its length, the front end of this channel terminating where edges 96 conform to and thus merge with the diverging edges 89 of recess 87 in bottom plate 65.

Just forwardly of the hole 71 in each of the plates 66, these plates have downwardly curved sections 99 which preferably follow the arc of a circle and terminate where these curved sections contact the horizontal front end portion of plate 65, the balance of plates 66 forwardly of sections 99 being disposed horizontally in flush contact with plate 65.

The pair of plates 67 are right and left reverse duplicates of each other and include relatively narrow rear sections 100 in which all of the holes 70 appearing in these plates are provided, these sections being located directly under the retainer plates 68 of the closure feed slide 60 and forming outer walls of slide recesses 101 occupied by slide suspending flanges 51 (FIGS. 6 and 9). r

The pair of plates 67 include forward sections 102 which are substantially wider than plates 66 so as to overlie and form a closure confining top Wall for intermediate and forward portions of closure feed channel 97. Just forwardly of bolt holes 71 in plates 67 the latter are provided with downwardly curved sections 103 Which lie snugly against and conform to the curved sections 99 of the plates 66 and terminate at the front ends of curved sections 99 so that the balance of the forward portions of plates 67 are disposed horizontally and lie flush against the corresponding forward portions of plates 66. In the assembled closure feed slide 60, inner edges 104 of front sections 102 of plates 67 are spaced apart a short distance to permit observation of closures 21 traveling along closure feed channel 97. Where the edges 104 enter the downwardly curved sections 102 of plates 67 these edges have shallow recesses 105 which conform with and are superimposed over the corresponding portions of recess 87 in bottom plate 65. The recesses 105 terminate forwardly in curved contours 110 which conform to and are superimposed directly above corresponding edges 89 of the front portion of the plate 65.

While the spring ears 95 are shown in the drawings as provided on plates 66 these ears may be provided with substantially equal effectiveness on any of the plates 65, 66 or 67 of the slide 60. These ears are connected by contractile springs 110 with the spring mounting arms 55 on the back plate 44.

Slidable vertically in the guideway formed by the front channel member 30 of the hopper 36 and the inbent check guide flanges 50 is a closure check member 111 which is channel-shaped to include a web 112 which rests against the member 30 and side flanges 113 in lower ends of which a pair of latch teeth 114 are formed having sloping rear faces 115 which allow closures to readily slide under the check member 111, the weight of the latter causing this to drop downwardly just as soon as a closure rides forwardly from under the latch teeth 114.

Operation The method of the present invention involves feeding a closure 21, with the mouth end thereof foremost, horizontally to a given position, deflecting the mouth end portion of the closure downwardly at a substantial angle relative to the balance of the closure, holding the closure against reverse movement from the aforesaid position, and advancing a vertically held bunched or twisted neck of a flexible bag in a horizontal direction into engagement with the jaws of the closure so that resultant downward forces are imparted to the jaws of the closure which flex these jaws downwardly increasing the space between the jaws to where the bag neck readily enters the mouth of the closure. This method is partly performed by the closure dispenser 20 and partly by the manipulation of the bag neck by the operator. Referring to FIG. 4, three closures 21 are shown occupying different portions of the closure feed channel 97. For convenience of reference these three closures will be designated as closures A, B and C in FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8. Closure A occupies a forward downturned portion of closure channel 97; closure B occupies an intermediate portion of said channel, and closure C occupies a rear portion of said channel just in advance of the closure pick 85.

The slide 60 is normally held in retracted position by the springs as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The hopper 36 having been supplied with a stack 40 of closures 21, the dispenser 20 is ready for operation. Two preliminary reciprocations of the slide 60 between retracted position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and extended position as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are necessary in order to properly load the slide 60' with closures so as to be able to start applying a closure to a bag. For instance, when the dispenser 20 was first loaded with stack 40 of closures, closure A was on the bottom of the stack, closure B was second from the bottom and closure C was third from the bottom. The first preliminary reciprocations of slide 60 are accomplished by taking hold of the slide and manually pulling it from its retracted position to its extended position and then releasing it, allowing the springs 110 to return it to its retracted position. The first of these reciprocations causes the closure pick 85 to engage closure A (then at the bottom of stack 40) and shift this closure forwardly with the slide until the catch teeth 114 on the check 111 drop downwardly behind the rear end of closure A so that when the slide 60 returns to retracted position closure A is then in the position of closure B in FIGS. 4 and 5. The closure B is now on the bottom of stack 40 and the second reciprocation of the closure slide 60 feeds closure B out of the hopper 36 and under the check 111, closure B thus engaging closure A whereby the latter is carried forwardly ahead of closure B until the slide reaches its fully extended position and catch teeth 114 of check 111 drop downwardly behind closure B. When the slide 60 is now released to be spring returned to its retracted position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 the return With the slide of closures A and B is prevented by the check latch teeth 114. Thus held against rearward movement with the slide 60, the closures A and B are relatively propelled forwardly by the teeth 114 into the positions in which they are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and as the pick 85 moves rearwardly out from under the stack 40 of closures, the closure C which is now at the bottom of the stack drops downwardly into the rear portion of closure feed channel 97.

This final rearward movement of the slide 60 in the second of the two preliminary reciprocations thereof propels closure A into the forward downturned portion of channel 97 so as to deflect the front portion of closure A, in which the mouth 22 thereof is formed, downwardly at a substantial angle as shown in FIG. 5, from the balance of said closure which is still approximately horizontal.

The closure feed channel 97 has thus been loaded with bag closures and the dispenser 20 is ready to apply a closure to the neck of a bag. This is accomplished as follows. The operator picks up a filled bag 125, bunches or twists the neck 126 thereof as shown in FIG. 5 and then advances the bag and neck with the latter held vertically as shown in this view in the direction of arrows 127 into the open entrance to recess 87 formed in the slide bottom plate 65 and presses the bag neck 126 horizontally against the jaws 23 of closure A. This produces a downward flexing of jaws 23 as shows in FIGS. 16 and 17 whereby the space between these jaws is substantially increased thereby readily admitting the bag neck 126 into the mouth 22 of closure A. As soon as released from pressure from bag neck 126, these jaws 23 automatically return into the plane of the forward portion of closure A and resume their closely spaced relation as shown in FIG. 14 thereby trapping bag neck 126 in mouth 22 of said closure.

The next step in operation of the dispenser 20 to apply closure A to bag is to pull the neck 126 of said bag horizontally directly forwardly. The result of this movement, in the direction of arrows 128 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, is to pull the slide 60 forwardly from its retracted to its extended position, the slide being so shown in these views. This results from the fact that sufficient resistance is involved in withdrawing the closure A forwardly from the slide 60 that such withdrawal requires the application of a pulling force in excess of the retractive tension applied to the slide by the springs 110. Thus not until the slide 60 is pulled forwardly to its extended position and the stop cushion 82 comes into engagement with the rear hopper wall 35 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, is the forward movement of the slide halted with sufficient force to permit the withdrawal of closure A forwardly from the closure feed channel 97. The resistance, just mentioned, to withdrawing closure A forwardly from the front end of the closure feed channel 97 is occasioned by the extreme front end portion of said channel being horizontal thus requiring a reverse arching of closure A from the arch imparted thereto by the downwardly inclined forward portion of said channel in which closure A is shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8.

It is thus seen that the withdrawal of the closure A from the slide 60 is accomplished by pulling horizontally, in the direction of arrows 128, on the bag neck 126 as shown in FIG. 8 and that this is exactly the reverse of the movement by which closure A was applied to said bag neck. The entire operation is thus reduced to one of extreme simplicity so that an operator can be instructed in the mode of operating the machine with little difl-lculty. Furthermore this mode of operation appears to be the most natural to operators who are unskilled in the use of dispenser 20 so that it is practically impossible to abuse or misuse this dispenser and thus injure the closures 21 in applying these to bags.

It is also to be noted that withdrawal of the foremost closure A from the slide 60 by merely pulling the bag neck 126 trapped in the mouth of said closure, forwardly horizontally, automatically pulls the slide 60 forwardly to its extended position so that immediately upon the separation of the closure A from the front end of the slide, springs 110 snap the slide backwardly to its retracted position. This pulling the slide 60 forwardly however to withdraw the closure A therefrom causes the pick 85 to feed closure C from the hopper 36 forwardly of the check latch teeth 114 as shown in FIG. 8 so that on the rearward return of the slide to retracted position closure C occupies the position of closure B in FIG. 4 and closure B occupies the position of closure A in this view. It is thus seen that withdrawal of a closure from the dispenser 20, after this has been applied to a bag neck, actuates the dispenser to present another closure in readiness for applying this to another bag. It is thus seen that no power means is required to operate the dispenser 20 and no special attention need be paid to readying it for a succeeeding closure applying operation, for the mere act of applying to a bag neck a closure presented by the dispenser and then pulling this closure out of the dispenser 20 actuates the latter to present another closure arched downwardly in readiness for application to another bag neck.

The same general effect gained by deflecting a closure downwardly may be obtained by deflecting the closure upwardly. It is to be understood therefore, that while it is preferable to deflect the closure downwardly because the weight of product in a bag being closed tends to produce a slight downward movement of the bag neck, during a bag closing operation, which contributes to deflecting the jaws 23 and thus aids the operation, nevertheless a modification of the dispenser 20 so as to deflect the foremost closure 21 upwardly is to be considered as a mechanical equivalent of the downward deflection of the closure as disclosed and claimed herein.

The essence of this feature of the present invention is to present the foremost closure so that at least the leading end portion thereof in which its bag closing mouth is provided, is inclined relative to the direction in which a bag neck is normally moved into contact with the closure, while the axis of the bag neck lies in a plane normal to the plane of said leading end portion of the closure.

The method of the invention may thus be performed by merely arching the closure to thus incline the leading end portion thereof, or it could be performed by inclining the entire closure to produce such an inclination of its leading end portion.

Reference is made herein to manually compacting the neck of a bag prior to presenting this to a closure 21 held by dispenser 20, as by bunching, choking or twisting said neck. The work involved in this manual compacting of the bag neck may be reduced to a minimum by allowing the converging edges 89 of the entrance to the opening 87 in slide 60 to assist in concentrating the bag neck in opening 87 as the bag neck is moved into contact with jaws 23 of the closure. The entrance to the slide opening 87 formed by diverging slide edges 89 may be made substantially larger than shown, if desired, to facilitate guiding a bag neck into said opening.

Ordinarily, bunching of the bag neck is relied upon for compacting this as this takes less time than twisting the neck. Contracting the neck by twisting is thus reserved for cases where the bag is so nearly filled with product that compacting the neck, without twisting the same, is not feasible.

The reason for making the closure feed channel 97 slightly wider, opposite the closure pick 85, is to assure against either side edge of a closure at the bottom of stack 40 hanging up on one of the slide plates 66 when the slide 60 is forwardly extended and thus preventing this closure gravitating downward to rest flat against the slide bottom plate 65 when the slide 60 retracts and the pick is withdrawn from supporting relation with said stack. If the bottom closure in the stack is misaligned with feed channel 97 while resting on pick 85 it will be cammed into the channel 97 by engagement with the inclined surfaces which connect inside edges 96 and 98 of the slide plates 66 (FIG. 12).

The vertical adjustability of the front and rear channel members 30 and 35 which form the front and rear walls of hopper 36 is for the purpose of assuring that only one closure 21 will be fed forwardly by the pick 85 when the slide 60 moves to its extended position and also prevent any closure 21 being carried frictionally between the rear hopper wall 35 and the pick 85 on the return of the latter to its retracted position.

While only a single embodiment of the apparatus of the invention is disclosed herein, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in this without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

The claims are:

l. A method of dispensing a bag closure of flexible sheet material having a bag-neck-confining mouth formed by opposed closely spaced jaws at one end of the closure, said method comprising (a) feeding said closure horizontally with said closure in a horizontal plane and with the aforesaid end of said closure disposed forwardly,

(b) arching said closure with the forwardly disposed portion thereof extending downwardly at a substantial angle with respect to the balance of the closure,

(c) massing the neck portion of a bag in a vertical column,

(d) shifting said column horizontally against said jaws thereby bending said jaws downwardly away from the plane of said forward portion of said closure to increase the space between said jaws and admit said column into said mouth whereupon said jaws, being flexible, return to the plane of said forward portion of said closure, thereby trapping said column in said mouth of said closure.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein 3,061,983 9 (e) said bag closures are initially stored in a vertical (1) vertical side walls of sheet material, lower stack and, then portions of which extend rearwardly to provide (f) are successively fed from one end of said stack, means for mounting the dispenser on a wall,

arched, and attached to a bag as aforesaid. (2) said side walls being provided with horizontal 3. In a dispenser of bag closures of flexible sheet ma- 5 outwardly extending flanges at the bottom edges terial each of which has, at one end thereof, a bag-neckthereof to support said slide means, confining mouth formed by opposed closely spaced jaws, (3) said side Walls also having inturned front the combination of: flanges to confine said closure check means,

(a) magazine means for storing a quantity of closures and delivering these successively to a given starting location in which a closure is disposed in a flat horizontal position;

(b) horizontally reciprocable slide means having retracted and extended positions and having a closure feed channel including a rear portion and an intermediate portion, which portions are horizontal, and a forward portion which turns downwardly, said rear portion embracing said closure starting location when said slide means is retracted so that a closure is received from said magazine means in said rear channel portion;

(0) a closure pick on said slide means for picking said closure from said location when said slide means shifts to extended position thereby retaining said clo sure in said rear channel portion; and

(d) check means engaging said closure and preventing its return to said location when said slide means is again retracted, said retraction thereby transferring said initial closure to said intermediate portion of said feed channel and admitting a second closure into said starting location in said rear channel portion whereby a second reciprocation of said slide means advances said second closure into said intermediate channel portion thus advancing said initial closure into said forward channel portion whereby the front end of said initial closure, on which said jaws are provided, is bent downward from horizontal with respect to the balance of said closure, this happening upon the return of said slide means to its retracted position in the second reciprocation of said slide means above noted,

(e) there being a vertical bag-neck-receiving recess provided in the front end of said slide means into which recess the front end portion of the initial closure now extends whereby a compacted bag neck held vertically and moved horizontally into said recess will engage the jaws of said initial closure and bend the same downwardly so as to separate said jaws and admit said bag neck into said closure month, said jaws then resiliently returning together to trap said bag neck in said closure mouth.

4. A combination as recited in claim 3 wherein (f) spring means is provided, this being connected to said slide means to constantly urge the same from extended to retracted position, the front extremity of the down-turned forward portion of said channel be- (4) said hopper also including spacer members disposed between said side walls and secured to the latter in spaced relation to form a vertical chamber for confining a stack of closures,

(5 the front spacer member cooperating with said front flanges to provide a guide way for said check means,

(6) said front spacer member being adjustable vertically on said side walls to provide a closure feed gate.

7. A combination as recited in claim 6 wherein (i) rearwardly extending lower portions of said vertical side walls are provided with out-turned flanges which are connected together by a vertical wall mounting plate and in which (j) said slide means has extending upwardly from its rear end a resilient bumper which engages said wall mounting plate to resiliently halt said slide means in its retracted position and also engages the back spacer channel of said magazine hopper to halt said slide means in its extended position.

8. A combination as recited in claim 6 wherein (/c) said slide means has a bottom plate which forms the bottom of the closure feed channel of said slide means and (I) said plate has a pick means provided thereon at the rear end of said channel,

(m) such slide means also including a pair of intermediate plates overlying edge portions of said bottom plate,

(11) a pair of upper plates overlying said intermediate plates and (0) a pair of hold down plates overlying said upper plates, and

(p) means for rigidly securing together said plates as so positioned, said intermediate plates, upper plates and hold down plates forming horizontal guideways into which said out-turned flanges at the bottom of said hopper side Walls extend whereby said slide means is suspended on said side walls and free to slide horizontally between its retracted and extended positions aforesaid, said intermediate plates forming side walls of said slide means closure feed channel, and said upper plates forming the outer Walls for said flange receiving guideways as well as the top wall for the intermediate, forward and front end portions of said slide means closure feed channel.

9. In a dispenser of bag closures of flexible sheet material each of which has at one end thereof a bag-neck-confining mouth formed by opposed closely spaced jaws, the combination of:

ing slightly upturned to resist forward withdrawal of said initial closure therefrom with suflicient force that such withdrawal is eifective only by pulling forwardly on said bag neck trapped in the mouth of said initial closure with a force in excess of that necessary to overcome the tension of said spring means and thus pull said slide means from its retracted position to its extended position incidental to the withdrawal of said initial closure from said slide means.

5. A combination as recited in claim 4 wherein (g) the closure feed channel aforesaid has a horizontal portion at the front end of the forward, downwardly inclined portion of said channel, which horizontal portion not only retards forward withdrawal of the initial closure from said channel but guides the final closure Withdrawal movement horizontally.

6. A combination as recited in claim 3 wherein (h) said magazine means embodies a magazine hopper including (a) means forming a channel along which said closures are adapted to be fed in end-to-end relation, said closures being normally fed along said channel with the month end of each closure disposed forwardly;

(b) means for flexing the forward, mouth-occupying portion of each of said closures downwardly at a substantial angle from the following portion of said closure, when said closure has been advanced along said channel to a particular position therein, said front portion of said closure when so downwardly deflected being inclined downwardly at a substantial angle from horizontal; and

(c) means for preventing a reverse movement of said foremost closure in said channel, whereby horizontal movement of a vertically held compacted neck of a bag towards and into engagement with the jaws of 11 said foremost closure produce resultant forces which flex the jaws so engaged downwardly away from the plane of said forward portion of said closure to widen the space between said jaws and admit said bag neck 12 pick said lowermost closure horizontally out of the lower end of said hopper when said channel forming means travels to extended position; and

(o) a check engaging the closure so fed out of said into the mouth of said closure, the resilience of said hopper to prevent its return into said hopper when jaws causing the same to resume their closely spaced said channel forming means returns to its retracted r la n to r p Said g neck in a d m nth, said position, said check thus forcing the closure just fed foremost closure in said channel then being free to out of said hopper into end-to-end engagment with be pulled forwardly out of said channel by pulling the closure previously occupying said intermediate on said bag neck. portion of said channel and propelling the latter 10. A combination as recited in claim 9 wherein closure into the forward portion of the channel (d) the means for preventing reverse motion of the afo e aid foremost closure in said channel is applied directly to 15, A bi ti as e it d in l im 8 wherein the closure next behind the fOI'IDOSt closure, and the (q) said bottom plate of said closure channel forming action of said means is thus applied to the foremost 15 means is shaped downwardly in said forward portion ClOSure through the end-te-efld engagement between of said closure feed channel to increase the vertical said two closures to prevent reverse movement of the spacing between said upper plates and said bottom foremost closure. plate particularly adjacent the longitudinal axis of 11. A combination as reci ed in laim 1 wherein said bottom plate whereby lateral edge portions of said closure feed Channel forming means is Slidehle the front end of the closure in said forward channel horizontally between extended and retracted posiportion are supported on l te al portions of said hens; bottom plate but the portions of the jaws of said (f) Spring means constantly pp to Said channel closure adjacent the mouth thereof which are relameeIlS t0 Yieldehly move the Same from extended to tively centrally disposed are free from support from retra ted P fi and beneath and thus readily respond to horizontal pres- (g) resistance means embodied in the front extremity sure applied by a vertically disposed compacted of said feed channel forming means to restrain the bag k 50 that aid jaws yield downwardly and foremost closure against being pulled from said chandil d i id h k i h th f id nel by pulling on a bag neck which has been inserted closure i t m0llth 0f Said closure, until sllffieieht Pulling 3O 16. A combination as recited in claim 15 wherein force has been pp to Said foremost closure to (r) a front end portion of said closure feed channel extend Said epfhlg'meens and P Said channel forming means disposed in advance of said forward ihg means from its retracted Position to its extended portion of said means is substantially horizontal so Position, as to require the reverse bending of said foremost Said means for feeding Closures into Said channel closure and the withdrawal of the same in a subheh'lg actuated by the return of Said channel forming stantially horizontal plane from said means after means from extended position to retracted position said closure has been applied to the neck f a bag to feed another closure into said channel in end-to- 17 In a dispenser f bag closures f fl xibl Sheet end relation with a closure remaining in said channel teria] each f which has at one end th e f kafter said foremost closure has been pulled from the fi i th f d by opposed closely spaced jaws, front end of said channel, whereby said remaining the combination f; closure is propelled by the closure newly fed 1nto said (a) means f f di a closure with said end disposed channel, into the Place the Closure l removed forwardly and inclined from horizontal when said from the front end of Sald channelclosure arrives in a certain position;

12. A combination as recited in claim 11 wherein (i) said closure feed channel has a rear portion which is horizontal, and which is of sufficient length to contain a closure,

(j) an intermediate portion which is horizontal and is of sufficient length to contain a closure, and

(k) a forward portion which curves downwardly and which constitutes the means aforesaid for inclining the advanced portion of the foremost closure downwardly relative to the balance of said closure.

(b) means for retarding said closure against being reversely moved out of said position, whereby the front portion of said closure, occupied by said jaws is exposed forwardly to engagement of said jaws by a vertically held compacted neck of a bag advanced horizontally towards said closure thereby applying substantial resultant forces to said jaws which flex the same in the direction of said forces so as to increase the distance between said jaws and admit said bag neck into said mouth; and

13. A combination as recited in claim 12 wherein (C) means actuated by the force exerted in pulling (l) a front end portion of the closure feed channel in f rwardl y on aid bag neck to pull said closure out f of said fprward pol-non of said cfhannfil of said feed means, to replace said closure with is horizontal causing the foremost closure in said another closure Similarly Positioned in said feed channel to Pass along an sshaped path when being means and inclined as aforesaid for application to withdrawn from said channel, said closure thus being delivered from said channel in a horizontal plane.

14. A combination as recited in claim 13 wherein (m) a hopper is provided for confining a stack of closures directly over and in communication with the rear portion of said closure feed channel when said channel forming means is in retracted position so as to feed another closure into said rear portion of said channel each time said channel forming means returns to retracted position;

(It) a pick formed on said channel forming means to the rear of said rear portion of said channel to a bag. 18. A combination as recited in claim 17 wherein (d) guide means is provided which is engaged by said closure as it is being withdrawn from said device, after being applied to the neck of a bag, to deliver said closure from said dispenser in a substantially horizontal plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,705,100 Paxton Mar. 29, 1955 

